Excavator



Y UNITE STATES .PATENT QFFICE.

Z. BUTT, OF LINCOLNTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

EXCAVATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 18,185, dated September 15, 1857.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, Zn. BUTT, of the town of Lincolnton, in the county of Lincoln and State of North Carolina, have invented new and useful Improvements in Self-Loading Carts or Excavators:

The object of these improvements are to simplify the construction of the machine and also to facilitate and abridge the manual labor of moving earth.

The peculiarities of the improvements are that the excavator is not only loaded by the horses, but is likewise raised, or elevated by them, so as to be ready for carting. Again the gate of t-he excavator is so contrived and hinged that the driver can open and close it without leaving his seat or stopping his team. And Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making part of this specification, of which- Figure 1 is a side view showing the excavator dropped to, and just entering the ground and Fig. 2 is a view looking down upon the machine.

The same letters of reference indicate similar parts.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, represents the frame supported upon wheels as is shown in the drawing.

D, is the scoop or excavator. It is bound or shod in front by a piece of steel, and stiffened and strengthened by the bars of iron which pass around the back of the scoop and also by the bars (i, z',) which pass along the sides, and are bolted or riveted to them, thus making part and parcel of the scoop itself and giving it great firmness and solidity.

The scoop is bolted to the frame, A, by the rod which helps to strengthen the frame and at the same time support the back of the scoop.

Gr, G, are two bars ivoted to the sides of the scoop at the point o, and their upper ends are connected together by a rod, on which rod are placed the two rollers (d, 65,) which rest upon the top of the frame, and playbackward and forward, as occasion may require.

The arms G, G, together with the cross bar, roller, &c., brace, support, and sustain the scoop and take off the great strain from the chains, wndlass, &c., while the machine is being' loaded and by means of the stops (c, 0.,) regulate the depth the scoop shall enter the ground, to effect which the stops (a, a,) are adjustable; or can be moved backward or forward upon the frame so as to set the excavator' to any required depth, and hold it there while at work.

R, is a windlass connected to the cross bar (72,) by the chains a, fn., and is used for raising and lowering the scoop.

O, is a ratchet, c, its catch, c, e, lever, s, crank. These are the mechanical devices used to operate the windlass by hand or thus raising and lowering the excavator.

K, is a pulley placed upon the windlass, m, is a rope attached to said pulley and which winds around it when the excavator is dropped to the ground (as is shown in the drawing) to this rope the horses are attached for raising the loaded excavator.

In Fig. 3, the parts Gr, Gr, shown in the red lines are riveted to the sides of the scoop and the dept-h it shall enter the ground, &c., regulated by changing the holes through which the cross bar passes and the chains n, n, fastened directly to the excavator, thus accomplishing the same ends by a slight change in the mechanical devices.

The 'gate is pivoted to the sides of the excavator and fastened by the latch or catch L.- From this catch a rod f, passes to the front of the machine, so as to be within reach of the driver, who is thus enabled to open and closel the gate without getting down from his seat or stopping his team.

'Ihe machine here represented is for two horses and in stiff or heavy soil requires four horses to load or till the excavator. The front horses with their driver remain in the pit for the purpose of assisting in loading and elevating the series of machines as they arrivein the lead, and the earth is carted away by the two wheel horses.

This machine is operated as follows: The driver of the machine releases the catch (0,) from the ratchet (0,) and the excava tor drops to the ground to receive its load, and in so doing winds the rope (m) around the pulley In the meantime the driver in the pit attaches his horses to the tongue and as the horses move forward the excavator is filled or loaded. Now as he detaches his horses from the tongue he drops the hook into the ring (s) at the end 0f the rope and moves his horses a few steps forward7 which elevates the loaded scraper and thus by this simple contrivanoe, doing away with the hard and tedious process of elevation the load by manual labor, and thus lessening the number of hands required to operate the machine.

To unload the driver pulls the rod (f,) upward and forward which opens the gate, and the load drops out behind.

Vhat l claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent isl. -I he attaching the parts Gr, G., in combination with the cross bars p, resting upon the frame, to the scoop itself, by pivots or otherwise, for the purpose of bearing and supporting it while loading and regulating 

